Free Chol Soo Lee
2022On June 3, 1973, a man was murdered in a busy intersection of San Francisco’s Chinatown as part of an ongoing gang war. Chol Soo Lee, a 20-year-old Korean immigrant who had previous run-ins with the law, was arrested and convicted based on flimsy evidence and the eyewitness accounts of white tourists who couldn’t distinguish between Asian features. Sentenced to life in prison, Chol Soo Lee would spend years fighting to survive behind bars before journalist K.W. Lee took an interest in his case. The intrepid reporter’s investigation would galvanize a first-of-its-kind pan-Asian American grassroots movement to fight for Chol Soo Lee’s freedom, ultimately inspiring a new generation of social justice activists.
Acted in
Chol Soo Lee
as Self (archive footage)
Sebastian Yoon
as Narrator (voice)
Ranko Yamada
as Self - Friend; Defense Committee
K.W. Lee
as Self - Investigative Reporter
Jeff Adachi
as Self - Activist
David Kakishiba
as Self - Activist
Jay Kun Yoo
as Self - Chair, Defense Committee
Grace Kim
as Self - Vice-chair, Defense Committee
Warren Furutani
as Self - L.A. Defense Committee
Leonard Weinglass
as Self - Defense Attorney (archive footage)
Josiah “Tink” Thompson
as Self - Private Investigator
Gail Whang
as Self - Bay Area Defense Committee
Jai Lee Wong
as Self - L.A. Defense Committee
Mike Suzuki
as Self - Bay Area Defense Committee
Me Yea Lee
as Self - Mother of Chol Soo Lee (archive footage)
Leonard Tauman
as Self - Defense Attorney (archive footage)
Tony Serra
as Self - Defense Attorney
Stuart Hanlon
as Self - Defense Attorney (archive footage)
Frank Falzon
as Self - San Francisco Police Dept. (archive footage)
Sandra Gin
as Self - Reporter (archive footage)
Sung Soo Yoo
as Self - Defense Committee
Richard Kim
as Self - Professor, UC Davis